Miami Cuban Gold Bracelets

A bracelet made from the Miami Cuban profile: thick oval links overlapped through most of their length, domed on top and ground flat beneath, so that around a wrist they form a single polished ridge with a flat inner face.

The joints are buried under the overlap and the dome, so the band reads as a curved bar of gold rather than as a chain, and its depth is obvious from the side.

It is fastened with a box clasp built to the same dome and width as the links, made in widths from around six millimetres to very broad, and each listing states the width and karat.

By profile and by weight. The Miami link overlaps its neighbour much further, uses thicker wire for its size, is domed on top and ground flat underneath, so the band is deeper, heavier and stiffer than a Cuban bracelet of the same width.

A Cuban bracelet shows its ovals as two rails with a scalloped seam and looks the same top and bottom. A Miami shows one continuous ridge, has a definite flat inside, and cannot roll.

On the wrist the difference is felt as well as seen. The Miami holds its curve when taken off and turns as one piece; the Cuban is a firm band but still a chain.

Because it is. The link uses thicker wire for its size than an ordinary Cuban and overlaps its neighbour through most of its length, so a given width of bracelet holds a great deal more metal.

The flat underside spreads that weight across the full width of the link instead of along a line, so the band is more comfortable than its mass would suggest, and after a few minutes it warms to the skin and settles.

The weight also keeps it still. A Miami bracelet does not bounce or flap when the arm moves; it slides as a unit to the wrist bone and stays there.

Wherever the wrist puts it. The clasp is built to the same dome, depth and width as the links, so it continues the ridge and looks the same as the run whether it is on top or below.

When the hand hangs, the weight of the band rolls the clasp to the underside, where its flat back lies against the inner wrist. Lifting the arm may bring it round again.

Because it is finished as a segment of the bracelet rather than a fitting, there is no wrong place for it to be, and no need to keep turning the band to hide it.

It can, provided the other pieces are placed around it. The Miami is taller than almost anything worn beside it, so a finer bracelet sits above it toward the forearm or is pushed against its flank.

A bangle of similar depth sits alongside as an equal, and two Miami bracelets together lock into one broad domed band. Nothing lighter will pass over the dome, so the Miami is always the base of the stack.

Worn alone is the more usual choice. The band has the wrist to itself, and its depth is seen from every angle as the arm moves.

Because there is nothing smaller to remove. The band is a run of identical links, and taking length out means cutting one link, removing a whole number, and soldering the cut link closed with the dome and flat back restored across the joint.

A Miami link is deep and heavy, so each one removed is a distinct step in length rather than a fine adjustment. The jeweller will say how close to the wanted fit the nearest whole link comes.

The bracelet is fitted so its flat underside rests on the wrist with room for the hand to bend back without the ridge pressing in. Length is normally taken beside the clasp so the clasp keeps its place.

A little. Each link has a short arc of movement before it bears on the link it overlaps, and around a wrist most of that arc is already used by the curve of the band, so what remains is enough to let the hand bend back without pinching.

In every other respect the bracelet behaves as a rigid piece. It turns with the arm as a unit, keeps its curve when taken off, and does not drape or collapse.

It should never be folded flat. Forced across its depth, the overlapping links have nowhere to move and a joint can be strained. It is stored in the curve it wears.

As a band would. The inner face is ground to a single plane, so the whole width of each link rests on the skin at once and the weight is spread across the link rather than along a line.

That is what keeps the dome on top. A half-round section resting on its flat cannot roll, so the ridge of light stays uppermost wherever the bracelet comes to rest.

The flat face also warms quickly. After a few minutes of wear the band feels part of the arm, and a well-fitted Miami is more comfortable than its weight would suggest.

Through the box clasp. The band holds its curve, so it is passed around the wrist as a nearly rigid ring, and the folded tongue at one end is pushed into the housing at the other until it clicks.

On heavier widths a hinged latch on each side of the housing is then closed over the joint by thumb. Both latches have to be lifted with a thumbnail before the tongue can be pressed to release it.

The clasp is worked by feel, and the two latches make it deliberate to open. Fastened, it does not spring open from a knock against a door frame or the edge of a desk.

From around six millimetres, where the dome is present but restrained and the band is a firm, deep bracelet, through eight, ten and twelve millimetres, in which the profile is unmistakable on the wrist.

Fourteen, sixteen and eighteen millimetres are made for those who want the wrist to carry a broad domed band, and wider is produced. At these widths the clasp carries a latch on each flank.

The form of the link is constant; what grows with the width is the depth of the dome and the mass of each segment. Each listing gives the width and karat of that bracelet.